New Episodes of ‘Arrested Development’ to Air on Netflix in 2013

After the cast and creator of Arrested Development appeared at an instantly sold out New Yorker event to announce plans for a new TV series in the lead up to a feature film, there were still some in the world who doubted those plans would ever come to fruition.

The announcement comes after months and months of terrible PR on the part of Netflix: first, when they changed (and in some cases, upped) the prices of their various service plans; second, when they divided their instant streaming and DVD services into two entities (the former called Netflix, the latter called Qwikster, both of which would be totally separate services that would require separate user accounts); and third, when they realized how stupid that idea was and scrapped Qwikster altogether just three weeks later.

Needless to say, acquiring Arrested Development is the smartest move the company has made in quite some time. Now, when the company comes up in conversation, instead of hearing “Wasn’t that whole Qwikster debacle just hilariously stupid?,” you’ll hear, “As hilariously stupid as that whole Qwikster debacle was, at least Netflix has new episodes of Arrested Development.”

Previously, the company acquired the exclusive rights to a show House of Cards starring Kevin Spacey as an ambitious politician. While that could be a boon for the show, especially if it turns out to be of excellent quality, it’s unlikely to attract new users in the way that new episodes of Arrested Development will.

Indeed, as a die-hard Arrested Development fanatic, this particular Screen Rant writer will be purchasing the Netflix instant streaming service for at least the duration of the series.

Producers Brian Grazer and Ron Howard – who doubles as the show’s narrator – said of the new show:

“Of all the projects we’ve been involved with over the years, we probably get more questions about Mitch Hurtwitz’s brilliant Arrested Development than any other– everyone, ourselves included, seems to feel like the Bluths left the party a bit too soon. Bringing a series back from cancellation almost never happens, but then, Arrested always was about as unconventional as they get, so it seems totally appropriate that this show that broke the mold is smashing it to pieces once again.”

Howard added:

“After a long hiatus, I’m dying to finally get back to the narrator’s microphone…’It’s Arrested…Development.'”

Ron Howard also posted a picture of the announcement on his Twitter account, while star Jason Bateman tweeted his unbridled happiness. Check the tweets out below:

Variety cautions that, while the entire cast has expressed interest in returning to perhaps their most beloved roles, no deals have thus far been officially made. After all, Will Arnett is currently on NBC’s Up All Night, which has so far been successful, and Portia de Rossi will be starring in an as-yet-untitled NBC pilot for next fall.

Then again, if an official announcement has been made regarding a TV series and the entire cast was on a high profile panel where each member said, in no uncertain terms, that they were committed to making the new episodes (as well as the film), one assumes that all that’s left to do is figure out how much money everyone’s going to get. (Which, admittedly, can sometimes be the hardest part.)

Still, Mitch Hurwitz, Brian Grazer, and Ron Howard all seem pretty confident, so count me in as not being too worried about it.

The Arrested Development film – which may or may not be in active-development, according to two separate sources – will likely be developed in conjunction with the new series (considering said series is being designed as backstory for the forthcoming film). When we have more news on that, we’ll let you know.

What’s your take on the news, Screen Ranters? Will new Arrested Development episodes on Netflix motivate you to sign up for their instant streaming service? Let us know in the comments.